Director, Music Commercialization

Company Description

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

Job Description

The Opportunity: 

Mattel is seeking a visionary and commercially driven Director of Music Commercialization to build and lead a best-in-class music engine that spans our content, toys, live experiences, digital platforms, and global marketing campaigns.

This role will sit at the intersection of entertainment, consumer products, and culture—responsible for developing a scalable music strategy that drives revenue, brand heat, and audience engagement across Mattel’s portfolio. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in music publishing, recorded music, licensing, distribution, and marketing with strong industry relationships and a proven ability to structure innovative partnerships.

This leader will create a pipeline of artists, songwriters, producers, labels to power Mattel franchises with culturally relevant, commercially viable music—while unlocking new monetization streams across platforms.

What Your Impact Will Be: 

Music Strategy & Engine Development

• Build and lead Mattel’s centralized music commercialization strategy across film, television, digital content, toys, gaming, consumer products, marketing, and live experiences.
• Design scalable frameworks for music sourcing, licensing, original music creation, publishing participation, and distribution.
• Identify and develop new music-driven revenue streams, including soundtrack releases, streaming monetization, publishing participation, merchandise integration, and experiential activations.

Artist & Industry Partnerships

• Cultivate and manage high-level relationships with record labels, publishers, artist management teams, distributors, and music platforms.
• Establish a proactive pipeline of emerging and established artists aligned with Mattel’s brands and audience segments.
• Structure strategic partnerships including co-branded releases, soundtrack collaborations, tour integrations, and music-led marketing campaigns.

Licensing, Publishing & Distribution

• Oversee music licensing strategy for global campaigns, content productions, toys, and experiences.
• Partner with Legal and Business Affairs to negotiate favorable licensing, publishing, master use, and distribution agreements.
• Evaluate opportunities for publishing ownership, co-publishing, original IP creation, and long-term catalog value.
• Manage relationships with distributors to maximize reach and monetization of Mattel-owned music assets.

Cross-Functional Integration

• Collaborate closely with Film & TV, Franchise, Marketing, Consumer Products, Experiences, and Digital teams to embed music into brand ecosystems from inception.
• Identify opportunities for music integration into toys (embedded audio, interactive formats), retail activations, live events, and immersive experiences.
• Ensure music strategy supports franchise storytelling, brand positioning, and global growth priorities.

Marketing & Cultural Impact

• Drive music-led marketing strategies that generate cultural relevance and audience engagement.
• Leverage social, streaming, live performance, and influencer ecosystems to amplify campaigns.
• Track performance analytics and cultural impact metrics to refine strategy and inform future investments.

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For:

• 10+ years of experience in music industry roles spanning publishing, recorded music, licensing, distribution, or artist partnerships.
• Demonstrated experience structuring music-driven commercial partnerships.
• Strong existing relationships across labels, publishers, artist managers, agents, and music platforms.
• Experience integrating music into film/TV, consumer brands, or global marketing campaigns strongly preferred.
• Background working with family, youth, or pop culture brands is a plus.

Skills & Capabilities

• Deep understanding of music publishing, master rights, synchronization, distribution economics, and royalty structures.
• Strategic mindset with strong commercial acumen and deal-making capability.
• Ability to build new organizational capabilities from the gro